Patterson, Christina

2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

The Independent - United Kingdom | 01/06/2007

Costa Blanca, refuge of the sun-starved Brits

The journalist Christina Patterson reflects on the British community in Spain as 100 of them are standing for public office in the Spanish local and regional elections this week to voice their criticism of the country without bothering to learn its language. "They've thrown their money and their often considerable weight into their new home, and what do they get ? Crap schools, apparently, poor infrastructure and mass corruption. ... In the old model of British colonialism, we didn't bother with the tiresome business of democracy and negotiation. No, waving guns and barking orders, we just chucked out the quaint chintz of local traditions and steamed ahead with our own. A seductively simple system which some of our own citizens ... are keen to replicate. ... We need to find ways for immigrant communities to be democratically represented, but ones which respect the complexities of the host culture and its traditions. What we don't need is a new colonialism. And especially not one which repeats itself as farce."

London children rap against crime

"On a rainy Tuesday morning [December 5th], in a packed hall on a council estate [in London], children rapped and rhymed and sang of their disgust for a culture of violence that's blighting their lives", writes journalist Christina Pattern. "The event was the culmination of Dividing Lines, a project organised by Subtext, a community arts organisation working with young people in the inner city. Two performance poets, Joelle Taylor and the British Nigerian rapper and hip-hop artist, Breis, have been working with Raj Bhari, a 'community cohesion expert', to run workshops exploring creative approaches to conflict. Judging by Tuesday's exuberant performance, and the high-decibel enthusiasm of the participants in the interval, it has been a great success. ... 'It's a mental battle out there' Breis told me after the event on Tuesday. ... Unlike other wars we could mention, this is a battle that we just have to fight."